Chanter

As a chanter, your primary goal is to keep buffs up on all of your allies and then assist with killing enemies. You will have the ability to do some light healing, but with a real healer in the group they will be obsolete. If there is not a healer, however, you will be focusing on tossing out heals as needed as well.

The weapon of choice for the Chanter is maces, although there are other one handed weapons they are able to use as well. This is extremely important to keep in mind, being that they are unable to dual-wield any weapons.

The ability of a Chanter to do solo combat is not too awful, although it is also not the best. The reason they are able to solo decently is due to being able to give themselves full buffs. This will boost damage, defense, health, etc. but will not increase combat statistics near as much as with giving the same buffs to damage dealing classes.

One of the best features of the Chanter is their ability to wear Leather armor. This is still considered as "light" meaning low defense, but it is much better at defending you from attacks than cloth armor is. The only issue with this is that cloth armor usually has better benefits for buffers than the leather armor does, so it is a huge trade-off. It is highly recommended that you grab both sets of armor if you are able to. It will help you greatly in the long run.

Strategy

Chanters are one of the easiest classes in the game to play, but one of the hardest to play effectively. Solo combat is pretty straight-forward, being that your goal is just to buff yourself and go kill enemies. When you get in to groups, everything changes.

A Chanter is very beneficial to groups because it is their job to keep everyone buffed. At the same time this makes you a valuable asset, it also means you need to keep up on top of your job. Do not stray away from the computer without letting others know you are away, and ensure that you are keeping up with everything that is happening around you. Not doing so is sure to get you kicked from your groups, and possibly even bar you from future groups with the same players.

When you are buffing everyone, the best idea is to buff yourself first. This will help you out because it gives you a sort of timer, letting you know when everyone's buffs are going. A general buff scenario will run as follows.

Step One - You buff yourself

Step Two - You start buffing everyone else, starting with the tank (if there is one) or the strongest damage dealer.

Step Three - Watch your buffs. When they start to go away, or say.... When there is less than a minute left, rebuff yourself and then your group again.

The reason for buffing although they have not quite faded yet is so that they overlap. If you do not do this, there is a chance that the buffs can go in the middle of a giant battle and everyone can wipe because of it.

The other very important thing to do as a buffer is to watch your allies and their combat status. Buffing players will surely build up your aggression in the attacking mobs, so you want to wait until there is a small break in killing or pulling. Making the mobs come on to you is another sure way to cause a party wipe. Keeping the buffs overlapping will help resolve this issue because you will have more time to plan when you are ready to toss buffs.

When it comes to assisting your team you do have a few attacks, but since your primary goal is to buff the allied players you will want to focus on that first. If buffs are going, or are gone, do not attack until everyone is rebuffed. The one time this can be ignored is when a mob is almost dead and it is for a quest or you are going to be taking a break afterwards. Never skip buffs for attacks when you are low on mana or are in a fast paced party.